Market Forces
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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Market Forces Commodore 64       
(c) 1984 Avalon Hill Company

                                                                   
Instructions  

When you play Market Forces,you can experience the actual effects of a market economy without risking your shirt.Market Forces will introduce you to the effects of credit,competition,supply and demand,and help players understand the causes of inflation.
Using a system of secret input,players buy and sell goods,setting their own prices.Prices asked by the other players influence the outcome of everyone`s actions.Player can buy and sell on credit,but failure to cover
their debts results in bankrupty.
In fact,Market Forces is loosely based on the commodities futures market,but the principles demonstrated could be applied to the trading of anything from battleships to bubblegum cards.There are five different commodities bought and sold in Market Forces; corn,bacon,coffee,orange,juice and sugar.

Market Forces is played with the joystick,except the beginning of the game,when the keyboard is used to enter each player`s name.During the different phases of the game,various horizontal bars with number on them will appear on screen.Each bar represents a different value that player can manipulate in the game.To enter a value,use the joystick to move the cursor onto the bar and number you want,then press fire button.

Note: The computer will give no indication that you have just selected a price or number of units for a commodity This is done so that your opponent cannot spy upon you.To change an order,go to a different number on the same bar and press the fire button again.If no value is ever enteredfor a particular bar the it is assumed to be zero,so make sure you have hit every bar desired before ending your turn.
It is all right to make clicks,sudden motions,or whatever noises you want when entering your move to confuse the other players and hide your actions.

                                   Sequence Of Play
                                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Market Forces lasts for six game years.Each year is divided into two phases:buying and selling.During every phase, each player in turn will secretly enter his orders using the joystick.
During the buying phase,the computer will need both the price the player wants to pay for an intem,and the maximim number of units the player wants to buy for each item.During the selling phase the computer will only ask for the price each player wants to pay.
Players may not (and rarely will) get all the units they asked for.Nor will they allways be able to sell all they units they own.Between each phase there is an information display by which players can see how well they did in the last phase.During each phase players can get additional information by moving the cursor to the  information bar and holding down the fire button.


                                    Buying Phase
                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~

During the buying phase each player enters the price he wants to pay and number of units he wants to buy for each product.The player can pay up to nine dollars and request up to nine units.He will not automatically get the number of units requested.The number of units he will actually receive is determined by:

---  The price he pays
---  The prices the other players pay
---  The number of units the other players request

So,the more the player is willing to pay,the more he is likely to get.However,if the other players are offering higher prices or looking to buy larger quantities,then the number of the units the player receives will be reduced.Just how much effect the other players will have is determinated by the Market Volume for each of the five items (the volume is displayed in the information screen).In the game it is assumed that there are many others besides those of the players.If there are many more orders,then the actions of the players will have little more effect than a few drops of water in the ocean.Therefore:If the volume is LOW then the actions of the other players will have a STRONG effect on the results of a player`s turn.If the volume is FLAT then the effect will be moderate.There will be little effect if the volume is HIGH.
At the beginning of each year,an item will be mentioned as likely to be in demand.In the information screen the symbol for the item will flicker or be highlighted.This Item has about 85% chance of beeing in high demand during the selling phase.

      
                                     Buying On Credit
                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of the buying phase the cost of the items a player bought is deducted from his cash.A player can ask for more goods than he is able to pay for,since he probably won`t receive them all.If,however,at the end of the phase the player has actually bought more items than he can pay for,he is declared bankrupt.If a player is unsure of his maximum debt it can be checked on the information screen.With careful timing,it is possible for players to force other players into bankruptcy be deliberately not buying anything when another player is deep in debt.It is also possible for players who are behind to catch up by risking a deep debt.


                                     Selling Phase
                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~

In the selling phase,players will attempt to unload the items they purchased in the buying phase.Any items not sold will be lost and cannot be stored for the next year.Only one bar will be displayed for each item:the price players want to ask.The actual number of units a player sells is determinated by:

---   The price he asks
---   The price the other players ask
---   The demand for each item

Market demand for each item is displayed in the information screen.If demand is high,then players will sell more of their goods.If demand is low,then players will sell less.


                                      Bankruptcy
                                      ~~~~~~~~~~

If a player has gone bankrupt (reflected by a negative value in his cash),his cash will be returned to zero and all his inventory will be sold at $1 per item.The items offered still affect the market as though the player has set his own price,so  a bankruptcy can be disastrous for other players as well.The player can then continue the game with whatever cash he has left.




                                        Winning
                                        ~~~~~~~

Short & Sweet !

At the end of year 6,the player with the most money wins.



                                       New Game
                                        ~~~~~~~~

To restart a new game press fire button on the joystick
